Photo By Tech. Sgt. Daniel Owen | U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Brandi Sullivan, 1-228 Aviation Regiment, Joint Task Force-Bravo,...... read more read more
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SOTO CANO AIR BASE, Honduras – For many service members, being away from their families and loved ones is the hardest parts of a deployment, especially in the middle of the global COIVD-19 pandemic. For U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Brandi Sullivan and U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Reid Cook who are sharing the experience as mother and son, both on assignment at Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, as part of Joint Task Force-Bravo, this has presented a unique opportunity.
Sullivan, a soldier, wife and mother of six, left the U.S. Army in the year 2000 only to rejoin a decade later to regain the structure and camaraderie that the military has to offer. As a quartermaster and supply sergeant for JTF-Bravo’s 1st Battalion, 228th Aviation Regiment, she has the rare opportunity to work with her son during this one-of-a-kind deployment.
“I work behind the scenes for the aviators, and I make sure that they have everything they need for all the missions that they do,” Sullivan said. “When we have missions like [Exercise Vita], we have more interaction because we use the Air Force to transport a lot of our equipment. We don’t work together on a daily basis, which is probably good because I’m still mom, but it is nice to be able to work with him and definitely to be able to see him.”
Exercise Vita was a combined medical and interoperability training event held in Colombia between multiple units across the task force and Colombian forces that took place early March. The exercise helped validate valuable readiness skills for all participants, including supply capabilities and air transportation.
Cook has areas of responsibility that overlap with his mother’s, allowing them to spend some time working together in a professional capacity.
“I am in air transportation, so every time a channel mission comes in, we unload and upload cargo,” Cook said. “We load the plane, make sure the weight is balanced on it – we basically deal with anything that’s coming in and out of the aircraft, including passengers. She actually drops her cargo in our cargo yard, and what we do is ensure it meets requirements in order for it to fly. We inspect it so that it’s air-capable.”
For Cook, a 21 year-old airman assigned to the 612th Air Base Squadron and the oldest of Sullivan´s children, joining the military was always the top choice, and his mother was a big part of the decision.
“She’s been in the military since I was young, so it’s always been a factor in my life,” Cook said. “Growing up around that it was kind of really all I knew. I knew from watching my mom and my biological dad, it was for me. I’m appreciative of the military. It’s given me adventures that I never thought I’d be able to get, and I’ve met people who have changed my life.”
In the middle of an ongoing global pandemic, many U.S. citizens required assistance from the Department of State and Department of Defense in order to return home from Honduras as the country canceled all incoming flights and closed its borders to prevent the spread of COVID-19. JTF-Bravo was part of an interagency collaboration to repatriate stranded citizens, with several flights departing Soto Cano Air Base to get them back home. Cook had the opportunity to be part of that response.
“They were going through us,” Cook said. “In three weeks, we moved over 200 people. It’s been pretty cool to be able to get people out of here and know that it’s helping them in a way. It’s good to know that sacrificing my time away from [the rest of] my family is benefitting others. It makes things a little bit better.”
As stricter health protection measures were implemented across the DoD, as well as within the borders of Honduras, to ensure minimal contagion and spread of coronavirus, service members at Soto Cano saw their regular operations affected. Though Sullivan and Cook understand all too well their situation is a unique opportunity to be close to family, they are not immune to the challenge of separation.
"We want to keep the spread as minimal as possible and have to balance our desire to spend time together with our families with that responsibility,” Cook said. He added that his situation is somewhat less difficult by having his mother on base. “She’s out here and has four other children back home. Everybody is affected in some way, and everybody wants to see their family.”
Cook expressed he has always been interested in Central and South America and included Soto Cano as the top on his list of preferred deployments, following his mom´s assignment.
“I ended up getting it, and I remember calling her when I got the email – and of course she was happy,” he said. “When I found out I was pretty stoked. I was happy because my mom was here, but it’s also one of those places that not a lot of people get to say they’ve been.”
Upon getting the news, Sullivan was ecstatic. She expressed how working with him has made her see him in a different light.
“I love him to death, and I feel so proud of him,” she said. “Being able to work with him here, I don’t see him as my son – I see him as a young man who is in the military and knows what he’s doing. It’s just been the biggest eye opener for me and it just makes me extremely proud.”
Part of the uniqueness of a deployment to Soto Cano AB is that it offers service members even at a more junior level an opportunity to learn how different branches operate. One thing both mother and son agreed on was how the humanitarian aspect of the mission and the volunteer opportunities available have impacted their lives. The Soto Cano Chapel supports ongoing volunteer programs to maintain resiliency and give back to the community, while each unit also sponsors a local orphanage.
With his short time in Honduras so far, Cook had the opportunity to visit Our Lady of Guadalupe´s Home for Girls prior to the base stop-movement order along with volunteers from the 612th. He said the visit changed his perspective and made him realize how fortunate he was.
“It was heartbreaking to see, but also awesome to show up,” Cook said.
His mother agreed, adding that the mission and the experience as part of JTF-Bravo has left a mark on her.
“I think the missions are just fulfilling,” she said. “To me it’s just so important to be able to see how [JTF-Bravo] helps people and what we can do with the assets that we have, and how far we are willing to go to help other countries and people who need it.”
| Date Taken: | 04.30.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 04.30.2020 15:18 |
| Story ID: | 368926 |
| Location: | COMAYAGUA, HN |
| Web Views: | 764 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Army mom, Air Force son share deployment in Honduras during global pandemic, by Maria Pinel, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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